The Xinhua News Agency.
October 9, 2004 Saturday 9:30 AM EST
Finland 0 Armenia 1 – Euro under-21 result
STOCKHOLM
Finland lost to Armenia 0-1 in the European under-21 soccer
championship, Group One qualifier in Helsinki on Saturday.
Scorer: Melkonyan 77
Halftime: 0-0
The Xinhua News Agency.
October 9, 2004 Saturday 9:30 AM EST
Starters for Finland v Armenia World Cup qualifier
STOCKHOLM
Following are the starters for Saturday’s World Cup European zone
Group One qualifier between Finland and Armenia in Helsinki:
Finland: 1-Antti Niemi; 2-Petri Pasanen, 3-Janne Saarinen,4- Sami
Hyypia, 6-Mika Vayrynen, 7-Mika Nurmela, 11-Joonas Kolkka, 14- Toni
Kuivasto, 16-Aki Riihilahti, 18-Shefki Kuqi,20-Aleksei Eremenko.
Armenia: 12-Armen Ambartsumyan; 3-Karen Dokhoyan, 4-Sarkis Hovsepyan,
5-Arutyun Vardanyan, 6-Romik Khachatryan, 8-Rafael Nazaryan, 9-Hamlet
Mkhitaryan, 10-Armen Shakhgeldyan, 11-Andrei Movsesyan, 16-David
Grigoryan, 18-Alexander Tadevosyan.
Referee: Herbert Fandel (Germany)
ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
October 9, 2004 Saturday 11:42 AM Eastern Time
Ukraine has the largest GDP in CIS countries
By Valery Rzhevsky
KIEV, October 9
Ukraine has the largest GDP among the CIS countries. “Ukraine’s GDP
grew by 13.6%, the fastest rate among the CIS countries, in
January-August 2004,” says a report of the CIS Committee for
Statistics that was published in Kiev on Saturday.
The economies of Tajikistan, Belarus and Armenia developed at a rate
of 11.7%, 10.7% and 9.6%, respectively. Then come Azerbaijan (9.5%),
Georgia (9.42%), Russia (7.55%), Kirghizia (7.3%) and Moldova
(6.52%).
The GDP in the CIS countries grew at an average rate of 8% in
January-August 2004. Industrial production also grew at 8%. The
growth of retail trade turnover is estimated at 12%, the report says.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
City News Service
October 7, 2004 Thursday
Man Pleads No Contest to Soliciting Murders
LOS ANGELES
A former pickle factory owner accused of involvement in an Armenian
crime ring pleaded no contest today to seven counts of solicitation
of murder. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bob Bowers Jr.
immediately sentenced 42- year-old Edvard Gyulnazaryan, 42, of
Glendale, to 15 years in state prison, said Jane Robison of the
District Attorney’s Office. None of the intended victims were killed
during the two-year scheme, Robison said. Gyulnazaryan was the last
of six people to be sentenced in connection with the case, which
reportedly constituted one of the largest murder-for-hire cases
investigated by the Glendale Police Department. The FBI also aided in
the probe. Five other defendants were sentenced earlier to terms
ranging from 180 days in county jail with a suspended state prison
term to nine years in state prison, according to Robison. The crime
ring was believed to have been involved in credit card fraud and
extortion, authorities said. The Los Angeles Times reported in June
that investigators learned about the plot when Gyulnazaryan asked an
informant if he knew anyone who would conduct a murder-for-hire. One
of the first discussions took place at the pickle factory in a small
brick storefront on an industrial stretch of San Fernando Road, the
Times reported, citing court documents. Gyulnazaryan allegedly told a
would-be killer that he would pay $5,000 to have a worker shot twice
in the head at the Washington Smoke Shop in Pasadena, according to
court documents. Other intended targets also were discussed in
alleged murder-for-hire plots, according to the documents. “We
believe we thwarted the murders that were planned,” police Sgt. Kirk
Palmer told The Times last year. “The individuals who were targeted
may have been rivals.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
SeeNews
October 5, 2004 07:09 PM EEST
Bulgaria Sees Regular Air Flights to Armenia from April 2005
SeeNews
SOFIA (Bulgaria), October 5 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria and Armenia may be
linked by regular air flights from April next year, Bulgaria’s
Transport Ministry said on Tuesday.
Launching direct flights between the capitals of the two countries,
Sofia and Yerevan, was agreed at a meeting of Bulgaria’s Transport
Minister Nikolai Vassilev and his Armenian counterpart Andranik
Manukyan, the ministry said in a statement.
Vassilev is paying a visit to Armenia.
He and Manukyan also discussed boosting the development of transport
links between the two countries following a sharp rise in bilateral
trade in recent years.
Bulgaria was ready to launch a ferry link between its Black Sea port
of Varna and Russia to service trade with landlocked Armenia and was
expecting Russia’s final decision on this project, the statement
said.
Bulgaria’s exports to Armenia increased by over 100% in the last
three years, the statement said.
Bulgaria’s exports to Armenia reached 18.7 million Bulgarian levs
($11.7 million/9.6 million euro) in 2003, while imports totalled 21.2
million levs under official Bulgarian statistics.
(1 euro=1.95583 levs)
A1 Plus | 18:02:44 | 08-10-2004 | Politics |
VAZGEN MANOUKYAN SPECULATING OVER INDEPENDENCE
Armenian Democratic Union leader Vazgen Manoukyan, speaking Friday at a
seminar held in Armenian Center for National and International Studies,
shared his ideas about Armenia’s 13-year independence with the seminar
participants.
In his opinion, Armenians got independence without special efforts from
their side. He thinks Armenian people didn’t want to be independent for the
past century.
In his words, in 1988, a part of nation, predominantly intellectuals, was
opposed to independence fearing aggression from Turkey. They thought Armenia
could get back its lost territories by remaining a part of the Soviet Union.
Manoukyan said he considered national army creation an achievement of a
13-year independent republic.
The seminar participants agreed that Armenia had accomplished a great deal
in forming national army and winning Karabakh back from Azerbaijan.
Poverty, migration and unemployment were mentioned among negative phenomena.
Armenia’s Iraq peacekeeping may damage ties with Iran – paper
Iravunk, Yerevan
9 Oct 04
Text of I. H. report by Armenian newspaper Iravunk on 9 October
headlined “Between two blockades”
Armenia, which is still under the Russian-Georgian blockade, may find
itself under another blockade. A reliable source at the Foreign
Ministry has said that some diplomatic circles of Iran have given a
hint that if Armenia really decides to get involved in the US-Iraq
conflict, Iran might take serious steps.
Naturally, the issue is about the Armenian leadership’s plan to send a
group of 50 Armenian servicemen to Iraq. Although, according to the
Armenian defence minister, they are going to fulfil only a
“humanitarian” mission in Iraq, judging by this information, these
explanations are not convincing to one of our significant and
strategic neighbours.
Also, if we add to this plan the intention of returning [to
Azerbaijan] three of the liberated districts which are close to the
Iranian border and where US military bases will presumably be deployed
in the future, Iran’s concern seems absolutely logical and clear.
Anyway, we hope that the countries which are our strategic partners
will at least reach agreement with each other so that punitive actions
against Armenia in the form of a blockade are taken separately, not
simultaneously.
Azeri official rules Turkey in but Karabakh out of talks on Karabakh
ANS TV, Baku
8 Oct 04
[Presenter] The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy
Merzlyakov, has stressed the importance of Turkey’s involvement in the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. At the same time, Yuriy
Merzlyakov insists on the participation of Nagornyy Karabakh as a
party in the talks.
[Correspondent] A lasting solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh problem
cannot be practically found without Turkey’s involvement, the Russian
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said in an
interview with the Armenian Regnum news agency.
[Passage omitted: Merzlyakov on criticism of the Minsk Group]
Merzlyakov said once again that one could not expect the co-chairmen
to come up with a secret settlement formula. In his opinion, the
problem cannot be resolved without agreement in principle between the
parties to the conflict.
Mr Merzlyakov said that the next visit by [OSCE] co-chairmen to the
region would depend on the presidents of the two countries [Azerbaijan
and Armenia]. He did not rule out that the visit could take place
before the end of this year.
In his interview, the Russian co-chairman said once again that
Nagornyy Karabakh should be involved in peace talks as an independent
party. Many issues could not be discussed and resolved without
Nagornyy Karabakh’s participation, end of quote.
Commenting on Yuriy Merzlyakov’s statements, the head of the
international relations department at the presidential administration,
Novruz Mammadov, said that Azerbaijan wanted Turkey to be involved in
the peace talks. This country could play a pivotal role in the
settlement of the conflict. We take this into consideration and we
have said on many occasions that Turkey could join in the
negotiations, end of quote.
However, Mr Mammadov noted that the Russian co-chairman’s opinion that
Nagornyy Karabakh should take part in the talks was not real. Azerbaijan
is not going to talk to separatists.
China backs Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity – official
Trend news agency
9 Oct 04
BAKU
China backs the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Liu Yunshan, head
of the Publicity Department of the CCP Central Committee, said at a
meeting with Azerbaijani Speaker Murtuz Alasgarov in Baku on 9
October.
Every state has a duty to defend its territorial integrity,
international organizations should therefore support Azerbaijan’s just
position on the Nagornyy Karabakh problem and achieve a speedy
resolution of the conflict, he said.
In turn, Alasgarov accused the international organizations of dragging
out a peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict for
more than 10 years. We think that the [OSCE] Minsk Group has failed to
fulfil its task, he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Kuqi leads Finland with two goals in 3-1 win over Armenia
AP Worldstream
Oct 09, 2004
Striker Shefki Kuqi scored twice to lead Finland past Group 1 outsider
Armenia 3-1 in World Cup qualifying Saturday.
Russian-born forward Aleksei Eremenko also scored for Finland, notching his
fifth goal in four qualifiers.
Finland lost its Group 1 opener to Romania, but has since then won three
straight games to share the lead in the group with the Romanians.
Eremenko set up Kuqi, who scored just eight minutes into the game before a
crowd of 7,894. Eremenko curled a free kick past goalkeeper Armen Ambartsumian
in the 28th to make it 2-0.
Armenia, which lost 2-0 at home to the Finns a month ago, pulled one back
four minutes later through Armen Sjahgeldian’s free kick goal. His shot was
deflected off Sami Hyypia and left Finnish keeper Antti Niemo without a chance.
Kuqi struck again in the 87th minute for his second goal.
Finland now travels to the Netherlands to play the group favorite on
Wednesday.
___
Lineups:
Finland: Antti Niemi; Petri Pasanen, Toni Kuivasto (Teemu Tainio, 46), Sami
Hyypia, Janne Saarinen (Toni Kallio, 69); Mika Nurmela, Aki Riihilahti, Mika
Vayrynen, Joonas Kolkka (Jonathan Johansson, 83); Alexei Eremenko, Shefki Kuqi.
Armenia: Armen Ambartsumian; Rafael Nazarian, Karen Dohojan, Sargis
Hovsepian, Harutjun Vardanian, Alexander Tateosian; Hamlet Mkhitarian, Romik
Hatsjatrian (Karen Alexajan, 36), Armen Sjahgeldian, Davit Grigorian (Edgar Manucharjan,
61); Andrej Movsesian (Ara Hakobian, 84).